SAN FRANCISCO, April 8: The Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division has raided the home and office of Pakistani-American Dr Nasar Chaudhry for making donations to a Muslim charity in 1996.
In 1996, Dr Chaudhry of Hornell, New York state, was contacted by a former medical school peer for making donation to his Florida-based charity to aid needy Pakistani children. He decided to give Zakat to the charity.
“It must be in a bad context that they investigated it,” Dr Chaudhry said in a press statement. “If the charity misused the funds, how would I be responsible for that? How could I, as an individual contributor, know what is going on?”
Dr Chaudhry questions whether the raid would have taken place if he was not a Muslim.
“To the poor in Pakistan, I owe a duty,” he said. “I came from there, and Pakistan has done a lot for me. Even though it’s one of the poorest countries, I went to school for a pittance. Others should have those chances.”